Kristoffersson second and Foust fifth at World RX of Spain in Barcelona
At the tenth round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the 18-20 September World RX of Spain, Johan Kristoffersson was the highest-placed Volkswagen Polo finisher, coming home second ahead of fellow Polo pilot Tanner Foust in fifth.
‘Fantastic job’
Kristofferssen was runner-up to current rallycross world champion Petter Solberg. ‘It feels awesome to be a part of the winner’s press conference again. I would like to thank my team: they did a fantastic job with the car, which worked magnificently and just keeps getting faster,’ said the Volkswagen Team Sweden Polo WRX driver.
The podium spot leaves Kristoffersson in third place in the overall drivers’ points table with 182 points, while the Swede also posted the fastest lap time of the weekend in his 600bhp Polo WRX Supercar.
Kristoffersson’s team-mate Tord Linnerud went out in the semi-final. However, the pair’s European Championship team-mate Ole Christian Veiby won the Euro RX part of the Spanish event after another Polo driver, Tommy Rustad, was disqualified.
‘A victory is always a victory, but to be honest, this is not the way I want to win. I was car number two over the finish line, but rules are rules and that means I got the victory after all,’ said Veiby. Rustad had somehow activated the launch control system on his Polo RX during the race, when it is only permitted at the start of a race.
Veiby is now back in the fight for a trophy in the European Championship classification, after the penultimate round at the 1.133mile-long Formula 1 Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. ‘The event in Spain was a “make or break it” in terms of the chances to get a medal in the Euro RX this season,’ said an elated Veiby.
25,000-strong crowd
Foust meanwhile put on a show for the 25,000-strong crowd in Barcelona and was the highest-placed Polo RX driver from the Marklund Motorsport squad. Thomas ‘Topi’ Heikkinen went out in the semi-final race and finished the event in eighth place.
Coming from a podium at the World RX of Canada, Foust, the US TV star and two-time Formula Drift Champion remains the only American to have a won a round of the World Rallycross Championship having triumphed at last year’s World RX of Finland.
The next round of the 2015 FIA World Rallycross Championship, the World RX of Turkey, will take place in Istanbul from 2-4 October.
2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Petter Solberg, Citroën DS3: 243
2 Timmy Hansen, Peugeot 208: 208
3 Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen Polo WRX: 182
4 Davy Jeanney, Peugeot 208: 166
5 Andreas Bakkerud, Ford Fiesta ST: 163
2015 FIA WORLD RALLYCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP,
TEAMS’ CHAMPIONSHIP POINTS
1 Team Peugeot-Hansen: 374
2 Ford Olsbergs MSE: 297
3 SDRX: 268
4 Marklund Motorsport: 216
5 Volkswagen Team Sweden: 214
